Description: Future film-making legend Francis Ford Coppola
makes his big-screen directorial debut with this cult horror
classic, available for the first time in spectacular
High-Definition Blu-Ray. Following the abrupt death of her
husband from a heart attack, the scheming Louise Haloran
(Luanda Anders) travels to her in-laws estate in Ireland,
only to find herself trapped in a creepy, decrepit castle
with her ex-husband s demented family. Upon arrival, she is
introduced to a pair of maladjusted brothers (William
Campbell, Bart Patton) and a distraught mother-in-law (Eithne
Dunn), still grieving for the daughter she lost in a
drowning accident many years earlier. When a mysterious
axe-wielding psychopath enters the fray, leaving
blood-spattered corpses in his wake, the family s doctor
(Patrick Magee) takes it upon himself to try to get to the
bottom of things--before it s too late! The making of
Dementia13, meanwhile, is a tale unto itself. An
aspiring film-maker fresh out of UCLA, Coppola found work
under the tutelage of B-movie legend Roger Corman, doing
sound, editing and various other tasks. After finishing a
film called
The Young Racers
under budget, Corman
opted to use the leftover funds to finance a low-budget
thriller to cash in on the success of Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho. Coppola quickly delivered a script to Corman s
liking, promising plenty of nudity and gore. Corman gave him
the green light. Despite the meager budget, Coppola made the
most of his resources, re-purposing both sets and actors
from
The Young Racers, while employing the sort of
creative lighting, camera angles, and storytelling that
reveals an early glimpse at the great filmmaking that would
follow with such titles as Apocalypse Now and The Godfather
trilogy.

The Film:

Francis Ford Coppola was still a graduate student at UCLA film school
when he was hired by low-budget producer and director Roger Corman to
write a new story and dialogue around a Russian science-fiction movie
Corman had acquired, Nebo Zowet (1959). Coppola worked for six months on
the script for Battle Beyond the Sun (1963) and received $250 for the
job. Corman continued to call on Coppola for assistant assignments, and
when he asked if the student was adept at recording sound, Coppola
exaggerated his abilities and became the recording engineer for Corman's
The Young Racers (1963). The film was shot in Liverpool, England and
starred William Campbell and Luana Anders. Whenever Corman had access to
elaborate settings or a particular cast (and especially if he had paid
for travel expenses), he was fond of squeezing an entire extra feature
film out of the experience. In a trip to Puerto Rico to shoot Battle of
Blood Island (1960) and The Last Woman on Earth (1960), for example,
Corman and his troupe practically improvised a third film while on
location, Creature from the Haunted Sea (1961). When Corman saw that he
had twenty thousand dollars left from his budget for The Young Racers,
he told Coppola that if he could come up with an idea for a film that
could be shot quickly in Ireland, he could direct it.

A young Francis Coppola was given the job of directing this moody
low-budget chiller after begging producer Roger Corman... for the
opportunity to reuse the sets for another film which Corman was shooting
in Ireland. The story centers on the dysfunctional Haloran family, who
live in a state of perpetual sorrow in a spooky Irish castle. Still
mourning the death of her young daughter Kathleen -- who drowned in the
lake seven years ago -- Lady Haloran (Ethne Dunn) tortures herself
regularly by visiting the girl's grave (when she's not shrieking and
collapsing in anguish every five minutes). When daughter-in-law Louise
Haloran (Luana Anders) loses her husband to a heart attack, she manages
to conceal the body for fear of being cut out of Lady Haloran's will. To
further complicate matters, a mysterious interloper begins prowling the
grounds with an axe to grind... a very big axe. This enjoyable, quirky
psycho-thriller is enlivened by Coppola's inventive camera setups,
atmospheric locations and Patrick Magee's over-the-top performance as
the leering family doctor. Despite some ragged editing (probably not
Coppola's doing), this has relatively high production values for a
spare-change Corman project.

Image : NOTE:The below
Blu-ray
captures were taken directly from the
Blu-ray
disc.

Once again HD Cinema Classics
looks to have taken out all the grain from the image as they
did with the
Blu-rays of
The Stranger,
Kansas City Confidential and
The Terror. It's not so much that the plasticized,
waxy, soft 1.78:1 visuals look bad (they are very
clean and smooth) - they just look more like video than
film. Actually this may have less of the DNR-look than some
of their other efforts. There is occasional contrast
boosting but you can easily expect that this digital process
implemented, in 1080P, improves upon all the SD DVD editions
(this is a public domain film). The image is somewhat
inconsistent with the beginning being quite poor and it
starts improving though beyond the credits. The
Blu-ray
captures can speak for themselves. Perhaps I am being too
picky - it gave me a decent presentation if I stopped
seeking flaws at every scene change. Even the best print of
Dementia 13 can't be in pristine condition. This is
single-layered but the shortish film has a high bitrate and
without looking a gift-horse in the mouth - this is as good
as it is likely to get for this Coppola/Corman creation.

CLICK EACH BLU-RAY
CAPTURE TO SEE ALL IMAGES IN FULL 1920X1080 RESOLUTION

Audio :

HD Cinema
Classics are going to have to get into lossless audio if they are going
to continue - we get the standard Dolby Digital 5.1 bump and a flatter,
but perhaps more true, 2.0 channel stereo track. Both are pretty weak
with no substance - and tinny, echo'ed dialogue. There are only
optional Spanish subtitles and my Momitsu
has identified
it as being a region FREE disc playable on
Blu-ray
machines worldwide.

Extras : A split-screen
restoration demo that doesn't impress with its comparative quality and a
trailer are all we get - but to be fair the price doesn't reflect a bevy
of supplements. This bare-bones status has been a standard so far for HD
Cinema Classics' adventures into the new format. There is a second disc
DVD of the feature and a postcard of a poster of the film. How about a
commentary? with the director? Wouldn't that be cool?

BOTTOM LINE: Okay, after being Mr. Grouchy Reviewer - let's have some positives;
I lovedDementia 13 and only wished it was
longer! Corman-esque funzie! Young Coppola constrained by a
budget is... absolutely desirable. LOVE the cover too! And
what is the best part? This
Blu-ray is only a little over $10! A sawbuck! Bring on more HD Cinema
Classics! Despite all the weaknesses - we gotta recommend!
Go for it.

Gary Tooze

May 3rd, 2011

About the Reviewer:
Hello, fellow Beavers! I have been interested in film
since I viewed a Chaplin festival on PBS when I was
around 9 years old. I credit DVD with expanding my
horizons to fill an almost ravenous desire to seek out
new film experiences. I currently own approximately 9500
DVDs and have reviewed over 3500 myself. I appreciate my
discussion Listserv for furthering my film
education and inspiring me to continue running DVDBeaver.
Plus a healthy thanks to those who donate and use our
Amazon links.

Although I never wanted to become one of those guys who
focused 'too much' on image and sound quality - I
find HD is swiftly pushing me in that direction.